The Hunters of Beacon: The Seeds of Doubt
by regenerate1701
Summary: It's time for the second semester to begin for our heroes as the encounter new perils, loves, and the death of someone before the semester kicks off. With two new people taking the place on Team MRCK how will they cope with the fact that their lives as they know it are over and the this new teammate bring their own problems into the mix of an already abnormal team?
1. Chapter 1

The Hunters of Beacon: The Seeds of Doubt

Chapter 1

 _'So this is what a semester break feels like... Bored out of my skull in a house where I seem to stay more often than my own brother. Speaking of which I should text him and make sure he isn't in the hospital again sometime later. Anyway where was I? Oh right, being bored. Or I could clean... But in order to do that I need to find where I put that cord for the surround sound system. After all it makes everything go smoother than without it.'_ And that's where this begins, with me laying in a tangle of cords. Not to say it was frustrating but it seems that no matter how one organizes this things they always end up a mess. I eventually gave up on organizing them. Now back to the task at hand. I got up from laying on the living room carpet and walked to the last place I remember actually leaving it, on the end table next to the T V. As soon as I got there it was indeed still there and so was the laptop it was supposed to be connected to. I moved the mouse and it immediately awoke. Of course I never unplugged it from the wall unless I was at school. I found my music app, pressed play and to my joy Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue began blaring inside the whole house. Oh what a day!

 **Around the same time in the RWBY dorm...**

"Yang, we've been trapped here for nearly two months now. Are you sure we can't call someone and hang out with them." Ruby whined laying on her back on the floor.

"Well we could go hang out with Matt." Yang suggested.

"That's a great idea. we haven't even talked to him since the semester ended." she then snapped out of her excitement. "But didn't he say to call ahead?"

"What's wrong with a surprise visit?"

"I don't think he likes surprises all that much..." Ruby said quietly obviously concerned about her elder sister's idea of a surprise.

"Rubes you worry too much. What's the worst that could happen? I mean after all we did kinda surprise him with Velvet. He took that rather well. I think he'll be fine." Yang stated confidently.

"Ok. I hope you're right."

"Well thanks a lot ye of little faith."

That's when Ruby threw a pillow at Yang and started a pillow fight.

 **Much Later that day...**

Across the continent in Atlas, Weiss Schnee is sitting at her desk, in her large, fully and I must say elegantly furnished room waiting for the day she could go back to Beacon. She missed everyone; even Yang surprisingly, but who she missed the most of all was Ruby. Without Ruby it seemed as if the world had gone dark again. While she talked to Ruby at least once a day it wasn't the same as having her physical presence and to hold her adorable dunce. As Weiss thought about Ruby she realized that she still hadn't told her family that she was currently dating a girl. After all her father wasn't the most open minded of people. His blind hatred of the Faunus was a prime example. He believed they were animals to be used a slaves; not people capable of thought and emotion. Winter might understand considering that she's no where near as closed minded as her father. But the matter still existed; she had to tell them if only to get it off her chest. She made up her mind long ago; that her father wasn't going to control her life. She threatened to expose him for the murderer that he is. Obviously he didn't want those secrets to get out but neither did he want to kill his daughter. So he let her have her way. She was going to avoid it by going back to Beacon early. She knew that avoiding it would never make it disappear, yet she couldn't bring herself to tell her family. Not yet... The sound of her scroll ringing brought her out of her thoughts. It was a message from Ruby.

' _Hey Weiss, how have you been since we talked this morning? I know I shouldn't constantly pester you but I was wondering if you'd like to come back to Beacon a little early? Matthew has a few team based exercises that he'd like us to try along side JNPR and he's got Velvet trying to convince Team CFVY to join us even though they are a bit ahead of us. Well I hope I get to see you soon.'_

Weiss was ecstatic that Ruby had given her this opportunity. She immediately started to pack everything she needed and get away from the troubled place known as home and the company she was destined to inherit. Running to and fro from her closet and dressers, yet still taking the time to fold everything neatly. It would have been quite the spectacle if one had just met Weiss and her many habits.

After she had finished Weiss had realized that she had never sent her response to Ruby. She quickly typed her message to Ruby.

' _Of course I'll be there! If I didn't show up then something would probably explode. But also because I love you._ '

 **A few hours before this...**

Ruby and Yang were taking a cab out to Nevermore Valley with Ruby admiring the scenery. She stared into the green and brown colors of the trees, fields, and various houses blurring by as they sped across the countryside. Her mouth was hanging open in the fact that she'd never been over to Matthew's house and could have never imagined that he lived in an area surrounded with all of this nature considering that he really isn't much of a nature person. In the distance was the wall that cut off the city from the failure of Mountain Glen. And what she saw was in front of the gargantuan barrier were a few small houses. Yang on the other hand had learned throughout her experiences that not everyone was what they appeared to be. Maybe the peace and quiet appealed to him? She'd have to ask eventually. Right now there was a more immediate problem. Yang didn't have enough money to pay the driver... She'd have to ask for Ruby's help or perhaps even Matthew. Neither idea really sounded appealing but she was left with no other options.

"Hey Ruby I have a question... Would you mind helping me pay the driver? I don't have enough..." Yang asked sheepishly.

"Seriously Yang!?" Ruby shouted. "Fine I guess but you're gonna owe me big time for this! I was saving this money to get Weiss a gift. But all you do is jump at any opportunity! You never think to prepare, double check, think ahead, or even read the fine print!"

"Alright Ruby..." Yang said with a frown.

Ruby immediately noticed the change in Yang's mood and realized that she had really hurt Yang with her shouting.

"Yang?" She asked apologetically.

"Yes Ruby?"

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to yell at you."

"But you did Ruby... I ruined your chance to get Weiss a present and your right about everything. I'm always doing this. You probably think like most others, that I'm a party girl. That I don't really have a care in the world..."

"I never said any of that. I just want you to pay me back and then take Weiss and me shopping."

"Oh... So I just made that monologue for nothing?"

"Kinda, but it felt like you meant it. So maybe it wasn't all for nothing."

"Thanks Rubes." Yang said reaching over and giving Ruby a bear hug.

Then Yang decided that she needed to know what Ruby wanted to get Weiss.

"So Rubes what are you getting our local Ice Queen?" Yang said with a wink.

Ruby immediately began to blush and stuttered, "N-n-nothing!"

"Ruby... If you're getting Weiss a maid costume or something as equally skimpy, you can tell me." Yang said casually.

"Why would I tell you what I'm getting for Weiss? I've known you for most of my life and you love blackmail."

"Ruby I understand how love goes. You're both moving forward in your relationship and who am I to hold that over you're head?"

"You approve of us?"

"Of course, as long as she makes you happy and doesn't wrong you."

"So this means I can fulfill one of my dreams and get Weiss and myself maid costumes?" She asked hopefully.

Yang shook her head and sighed, looking at her sister and saying, "Yes Rubes."

"YAY!"

 **Matthew's house, Nevermore Valley, Around the same time...**

 **First person...**

After cleaning I decided to go wake up my brother and spar. The little twit was resistant because he was going to spend the day with his "friend". I say that she's more than a friend only considering that every time I bring it up they start sputtering out excuses, blushing, and what not. So their totally dating. I'd be proud if he'd ever admit it. Anyway so sparring was a bust so I tried to do the next best thing. I went out to the yard and then out the corner of my eye I see Yang trying to get her sister out of a tree in my front yard. I couldn't help but laugh and shake my head at the sisterly duo as Ruby looked over at me with a pout.

"Matt, stop laughing." Ruby shouted from across my lawn puffing her cheeks.

"Rubes calm down. Maybe if you ask him kindly he'll come over here and help me get you down." Yang said managing to contain her laughter.

"Fine!" She shouted embarrassed. "Matthew, would you please help me down?"

I couldn't help but continue to smile, "Of course Ruby."

I jogged over there and examined the tree to see which branch she was caught on. It didn't take all that long and soon after I used my semblance to break the branch off and like I expected Ruby came with it. They both came to a stop on the grass with a dull thump. Ruby was a bit dazed from hitting the ground and having the small tree branch fall on top of her. As she was regaining her bearings Yang and I had burst out laughing at what had just happened. Yang was wheezing by the end of it all and Ruby was trying her best to look threatening to the both of us. Well she only succeeded in making herself look adorable with her glare. After Yang had stopped rolling in the lawn we all had walked inside and they saw a rifle cabinet loaded up with various loaded rifles, to their left a modestly furnished living room, and directly in front of them there was a wooden dining room table with two computer cases and various computer parts and tools laying around it. Ruby immediately took notice of what I had on the table and sat down right in front of the shiny black gaming tower. Yang had left apparently searching for the bathroom.

"What's this your doing?" Ruby asked her eyes gleaming.

"Building my new computer to have in the dorm."

"But look at this hardware! I could never afford this..."

"Ruby, you'd be amazed at what you'd find if you have enough patience and some luck."

"So what would this be used for there?"

"Well I haven't quite figured that part out. But I'm sure I'll figure out something." I then thought for a moment, "Why don't you try your hand with the older equipment I have in the other case?"

She looked to the case right next to the gaming one. It was a simple black case with what looked like it had a hinged door on the front and two blue LED lights on and the audible noise of the fans spinning.

"What was this one used for?" Ruby asked.

"Well that was the one I had in my dorm along with a laptop. I learned during the semester that it wasn't really up to par with modern technology so I brought it back here to be used as more of a multimedia computer rather than gaming or HD video editing type." I paused for a moment so I could gather my thoughts. "Now that I think about it that thing has only sat there and played music since I brought it back here. How the mighty have fallen..."

I looked over to her and saw her turn the case to its side and open it. She looked like a young kid in a candy store whilst examining everything working in perfect sync, just as if it were any other day.


	2. R&R

The Hunters of Beacon: The Seeds of Doubt

Chapter 2

I just couldn't believe it... Yang had just broke the couch simply because she tried to pull off some stunt. We had agreed to leave after that and poor Ruby wasn't able to finish what she had started. It seems that today was going to be one of those days. It wasn't helping that my right eye was starting to bother me again, however I had learned to deal with it as time went on. It still causes headaches even five years after it all happened. I looked at Ruby gawking at the new weapons magazines that they had on display. Yang trying to look like she belonged here in a bookstore. I was sitting calmly at the cafe drinking a french vanilla coffee reading one of my favorites on my scroll. Resident Evil: Caliban Cove. I like reading original works. It always helps me see if the fandom is as great as they say it is. After all using an already existing franchise and then making your own unique aspect has always been an intriguing concept. I was really into this book when someone tapped my shoulder. I looked to find Blake, Team RWBY's resident bookworm. She was holding a bag of new books and if I knew anything about her she'd have most if not all of them finished within a month or so. I pulled a chair up for her so she could sit and we could talk.

"Hey there Blake. How's your break?"

"Going fine actually. It's been a bit too calm compared to how everything used to be." She said taking a deep breath.

"You alright?"

"Yea. I just wasn't expecting to see anyone here."

"Well I'm sure more unexpected things are in store for today." I said bluntly.

"You say this like it's from experience."

"Call it a bad habit from a time I'd like to forget."

"Your preaching to the choir. So anyway how has your break gone?" She asked looking at my scroll.

"Going fine. I built a new computer for the dorm, figured out Ryan's security problems, gave my brother my Impala, and then I wrecked the Charger by accident and now I'm the proud owner of a 1967 Impala SS427." I paused as I thought of more. "Oh and I learned that trucks do not handle being turned into tanks all that well."

"Have you ever heard of a vacation?"

"Nope, haven't been on a vacation."

"Why is that?" She asked scooting her chair closer.

"We never had time as a family. My parents were always out on missions you know. A Grimm pack here, some dangerous criminal there, a natural disaster on the coast, and when they were home they were making sure everything was paid up so we wouldn't lose any utilities while they were gone. I never really had a whole lot of time to be a kid. I've learned to live with it however, as has Phoenix. While it hasn't been easy we've managed." I explained quietly.

"Are you sure that's why?" She paused to gather her thoughts. "I mean you've said that you're proud of him. Doesn't that mean that he's ready to take care of himself a bit more? You can only do so much considering that you're away at Beacon for months at a time."

"He's the last family I have left. I just can't go to a different kingdom to relax while I have responsibilities here."

She had moved herself over to my felt side and nodded at something behind me, she had sat back down and took my hand with hers and told me, "You worry too much! Do you want him to grow up?" She asked. All I did was nod, "Then let him!"

"Ok, I'll try."

I looked down where we were holding hands and I froze realizing that if anyone saw us that there would definitely be a great misunderstanding. She looked at the same time I did, smiled, and let go. She had a grin on her face that radiated happiness.

"It's ok. I'll let Velvet explain what's going on when you see her again." She said with a wink.

Before I could reply to her statement my phone went off. It was a message from Josh.

 _ **'Hey were going past the wall to take a stroll dragging Kasey and Chariti along with, should be back for the team meeting before 6:00 this evening**_

 _ **-Josh (Mexi-kun)**_

"What's going on?" Blake asked.

"Oh nothing the rest of my team is going outside the walls for a bit. They should be back in a couple of hours." I replied.

"Aren't you concerned?"

"I'm always concerned about their safety but I'm confident in their abilities. I'm sure they'll be fine." I said confidently.

"Well I hope so. Outside these walls are where some of the most powerful Grimm are. You remember Professor Ports lesson mid semester don't you?"

"Yea I remember. He went into detail about the massive Grimm out there such as the Goliath for starters. They shouldn't be anywhere close to the wall though. They reside much farther out."

"Well then..." she paused in thought. She then looked at me and smiled saying alluringly, "We could get to know one each other a bit better."

As I was about to reply to Blake's rather peculiar advance my scroll went off again and this time when I looked I couldn't help but scream in anger.

"What happened!?"

"Some Grimm got Chariti and she's dying. They're at the hospital but the doctors aren't sure if she'll make it!"


	3. A Hope for Future Revenge

The Hunters of Beacon: The Seeds of Doubt

Chapter 3

I had arrived at Beacon Medical where Chariti had just recently been transferred to, by the time I reached her room I was wheezing because of how far I sprinted. It was an unusually white place with hand rails mounted on the walls and simple wooden doors leading to what was most likely more hospital rooms. It was almost as if the interior decorator was color blind and just simply decided that no color was better that even a simple pattern on the walls. There was definitely a spooky kind of feel to it as I continued down this seeming endless corridor to reach her room. (I always hated hospitals for that feeling) I saw my team outside of her door and immediately felt the atmosphere change from panic to somber. Mex staring at the wall in front of him, his emotions well hidden but I I were to guess there was an anger brewing inside. Kasey was calmly speaking with the doctor over Chariti's condition. The doctor saw me and motioned for me to come over.

"Mr. Lowrey, I was just informing your partner about how serious Miss Freeman's condition is right now. Needless to say it is well beyond favorable right now. She has multiple lacerations all over her body and to make matters more difficult her stomach was punctured. She has a virtually no chance of living beyond today. She lost a lot of blood and her stomach acids are eating her internal organs. I'm afraid by the time she got here it was too late. I'm sorry." She said sadly.

I immediately began to plot my incursion outside the walls. The Grimm would feel my pain and then after they've had enough I would most likely continue to slaughter them all. Kasey still standing there felt my sudden change in mood and placed her hand on my shoulder squeezing it slightly. While she wasn't visibly sad I could see behind her game face that the loss of Chariti was already affecting her greatly. They really didn't talk but when they did it was only when they needed to speak to one another. I would even admit that Chariti wasn't the greatest person but she definitely didn't deserve to die without being given a chance. But I knew how futile it was to try and argue with doctors. I would only cause more pain in the long run; plus she knew the risks of being a huntress. Death was entirely possible no matter how powerful someone was. It almost felt as of I was being selfish trying to keep her here. She was suicidal to a degree before I met her. Josh had even told me in private that she wanted to die and becoming a huntress would accomplish that for her. An elaborate attempt at suicide. To get killed in battle; it would leave few to no mysteries. It was a brilliant plan in its simplicity. So sitting here between a rock and a hard place I chose at that moment to let her die. Who was I to deny something that happened naturally? I was only human after all and we shouldn't try to play god, though we've tried many times all it's done is gotten us into wars and other troubles with Remnant.

Then I thought to myself that I was being just a little bit too selfish. Hell I knew Josh would love to go kill some more Grimm and I was pretty sure that Kasey wouldn't mind tagging along even if it wasn't exactly her style. The term training exercise did mean a lot to her however. Still I couldn't lie to her like that, not only would it be wrong, I would be betraying her trust. One of the few things I could never live with.

"Well Mex I think it's time to get you that cleaver you asked for."

"When did I ask for a cleaver?" He asked perplexed.

"Considering your old weapon is broken, just now." I said an insane grin forming.

"May I make it as I please?"

"You mistake me for some sort of scoundrel." I said in mock hurt. "Of course you can. You'll have access to every material you require."

His eyes got all big and there was a twinkle there as he suddenly became ecstatic as it seemed as if he also wanted to take revenge. After all they did kill his friend and that kind of vengeful anger is what a huntsman needs. Tomorrow would be a new day for this team, but it seemed that today wasn't over.

"Sir?" One of the doctors asked. "We got in contact with Miss Freeman's parents. Professor Ozpin is talking with them now and he has asked that you join him."

"Please inform him that I respectfully decline and that I will contact them in a few days." I requested.

"Of course. I shall tell him right away" She said hurrying away.

"You do that..." I turned to face Kasey her eyes almost staring into my soul.

"Are you going to go outside the walls and find this thing?"

"Indeed I am considering it." I paused to think about how to ask her. I figured that the direct approach would be best. "So would you like to help us?"

"Matt, you know I don't go for revenge. But I'll go, if only to keep you two from injuring yourselves." She said shaking off any fears she had.

And as simple as that I would begin a proper plan to find this so called Goliath and so politely inform it of it's destruction as it so informed Chariti. I knew Kasey had a bone to pick with this animal but I let her explanation be as it was. I didn't want to try and pry into it. She may have not liked her all that much but Chariti didn't deserve to die this young and I think that was what struck the emotional cord with Kasey. I walked into her room to find her now still body covered with a white sheet that the doctor had just laid upon her. It was confirmed; she had died and there was nothing they could do about it. There wasn't much left to do here but finish the paperwork and apparently go see Ozpin and talk to her parents. Oh well… _'Maybe it's for the best. According to Josh she wanted to die and technically she got what she wanted._

I walked away from the scene keeping my game face on the whole time. It was all I could do to keep the peace.


	4. The Mirrors Hold Secrets

The Hunters of Beacon: The Seeds of Doubt

Chapter 4

Out in the courtyard Blake was talking with Velvet and Nora. The red leaved trees swaying in the light breeze of the evening with the occasional gust whistling through the grounds. Velvet was upset and a little frustrated with Matthew considering Blake had to tell her that he might be going outside the walls and that he was more than a little infuriated that he'd lost someone else he cared about. Nora was there as well, examining the finer details in the tree bark.

"I just can't believe that would he left without any warning." Velvet said quietly.

Blake was sitting on the bench next to her consoling her, "I know but you know how he is… He's young and reckless and just lost a teammate. It's going to be a little while but I'm sure Matthew knows what he's doing."

"Why are you so sad?" Nora said suddenly paying attention. "After all he's going make some Grimm go splat! Oh, yes! They will be cleaning up that mess with a squeegee and afterwords Ren will make pancakes and there will be a whole bottle of syrup just for me!" Nora said skipping around them.

"Because we're supposed to tell each other about how we are feeling, not just jump and do something. What if he gets hurt or killed out there!?" Velvet wailed.

"I know that you're worried about him but he just needs to blow off some steam. Everyone knows that his temper can fly when he's like this and I'm sure he just doesn't want to hurt you." Blake paused trying to find more consoling words for her, "He'll be fine. I'm sure he won't even have a scrape on him by the time he gets back. Besides it's only been an hour, what could go wrong?"

"Well he better not because I'm going to make him wish he hadn't left!" Velvet gasped as she actually heard what Blake had spoken. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT COULD GO WRONG!? EVERYTHING COULD GO WRONG! HAVEN'T YOU HEARD OF MURPHY'S LAW!?" She screeched.

It seemed that Blake's talk wasn't exactly going to plan. Not that she didn't expect it to go otherwise but honestly she could've gone without the screeching because it hurt her rather sensitive ears.

"You know that wasn't what I meant. I just mean that he can look after himself right?"

"I hope so… Outside these walls are unspeakable horrors so I've been told, but those are hundreds of miles from here." She said worriedly.

"I doubt he'll go at all really."

"I hope you're right..." She said as she looked off towards the wall.

 **Matthew's POV…**

I was still at Beacon atop the tower where Ozpin's office is kept, wondering if this was truly the right path to go on. It was a stupid plan to go on a revenge hunt. It would only end up consuming me, however then again maybe that was I wanted. I watched the fireworks going off in the city and I wondered how the people could live in such ignorance. It seems that most people don't know what it takes to keep them safe. I watched the news recently and it seems as if the police aren't willing to put a stop to Roman Torchwick. The White Fang are getting stronger with each passing day, corrupting innocents tired of constant prejudice into killing machines. Innocent teenagers and young adults throwing away their lives for a supposed freedom. They use racism to start a war. A war they will win if they aren't stopped. I hate killing people, but there are times that the White Fang is no better than the Grimm we would normally hunt down and destroy. It only claims to justify the actions of the war that humans started when we began to enslave the faunus. In reality there is no justification for war except for freedom. A freedom that the Faunus fought hard for during the last Faunus-Human war. The White Fang use the excuse of discrimination to kill innocents. Not that we humans didn't honestly do any better to them, but two wrongs will never make a right. In the end someone will always have to pay for the crimes and atrocities that were committed and as far as I'm aware it's never a pretty sight. I continued to gaze at the city the grand finale starting and the sky lighting up with many different shades of many different colors. The sky was full of them. I don't now what the people were celebrating but it must have been a hell of an important event.

"You know Mr. Lowrey that if you stay up here much longer Ms. Goodwitch might believe you're a statue." Professor Ozpin said closing the roof access behind him with an audible click.

"Well this is one of the greatest places to think, virtually no people, no noise, nothing but the occasional bird and a gust of wind." I replied turning to face him.

"I agree it's quite peaceful but I'm here to tell you some good news."

"What do you mean? I just lost Chariti, as far as I'm aware my team is no longer to participate in missions or the Vytal tournament, so far my career here has a small chance of recovering. There is nothing that you could tell me that would turn this day back around." I said solemnly.

"You will have to select your new teammate, Mr. Lowrey I have two files that I would like you to look over within the next few days. You can test them in any way you so choose." He paused to adjust his glasses and spoke with more authority, "Also Mr. Lowrey I must inform you that if you choose to do so you will be placed in command of an air based task force."

"I don't understand. Beacon doesn't actually have an air fleet does it?" I asked confused.

"In light of recent events I took the precaution and with funding from the government and Schnee Dust Company, I founded the Beacon Defense Fleet. Consisting so far of seven Enterprise helicarriers, twenty-one Hellcat Class Flying Battleships, one hundred and five Prometheus Class Destroyers, one hundred and eighty-nine Dauntless Class Aerial Frigates, and thousands of STVOL fighters and jump-jets, all carrying the most advanced in stealth technology. If needed this can easily be expanded. As we speak we are building another helicarrier to supplement our forces." Ozpin explained.

I could only look on in surprise and even a mild shock that Ozpin had even furthered militarized Beacon. He had this great force hidden behind a veil, waiting for the right time to be revealed. His normally stoic expression now showed concern and worry, something that he would never show to anyone in public. I couldn't help but notice that there was some bigger game being played here and soon this force would be needed in the near future. I only hoped that it would be put to good use after this started. There is nothing worse than waste and I know that huntsman and huntresses that need good equipment out there on the front lines against the Grimm. There are too many lives lost per day to keep this hidden forever. I knew Ozpin knows this, in fact I was pretty sure that everyone at this school was painfully aware of the death tolls. There are simply not enough to hold the lines anymore. There is a facility out near where I live that was a bustling outpost, now an understaffed and largely in disrepair. It still holds all of their attack choppers, a few C130 Hercules, and many land vehicles, and by land vehicles I mean a bunch of armored civilian vehicles with weapon emplacements. Whatever works though…

"Well sir since you can't hide the fleet here I assume that it could only be held at the abandoned Imperial Capital?" I said with a smirk knowing I got him.

"Your intellect serves you well Mr. Lowrey." He paused to hand me the files, "Now these are the files for two people here at Beacon that have had unfortunate circumstances last semester. They're entire teams went MIA in the Cascades in Atlas and haven't made contact nor have any search parties found them. Right now it seems that they vanished right off the face of Remnant, but these two arrived here in dire conditions and are still in the later phases of their recovery process. Look them over and see which one you'd like and visit me when you've made your decision."

And with that he left leaving me holding the lives of two people and I left to walk back to my dorm to make a choice.

 _'I can't believe that Ozpin the man of peace had the had these kind of war machines at his disposal. I always thought that he was more of a diplomat, someone who would rather use his words to convey rather that his sword. But then again I guess that even peaceful men must keep their war machines at the ready in case diplomacy fails. Because when diplomacy fails there is only one alternative. Violence. Force must be applied without apology. It's just the way of the universe.'_

I opened the profile of a woman named Nicky Long. Her profile picture portrayed a rather pale white, seemingly outgoing person with her eyes sparkling and her face holding a smile but even I could see her for what she truly was and that was a person in pain. I was reading her background before coming to Beacon and saw immediately that she was found by Ozpin rather than applied for application. She was trying to fight for her life and was barely holding off the bandits that killed the townspeople in her village. The village was out in the frontier near The Demilitarized Zone on the border of Mistral and Vale. Before it's destruction by as still unidentified forces there were five hundred people including Nicky. Ozpin and a group of hunters were dispatched to perform search and rescue of any civilians in the combat zone. It happened to her a few years ago and apparently she's twenty three now, yet she's a first year. Ozpin obviously must have had his reasons for letting her live here and eventually enrolling her besides the fact that she was homeless at the time. I then looked on to find that she was apparently training in Beacon's own infirmary to be a doctor but then she changed her role of study and began her huntress training after she qualified in the Emerald Forest; she went from doctor to field medic and logistics support for the now MIA team that went missing. I looked on I never found any real mention nor even a team name to research. I was going to investigate further but on paper she looked like a viable candidate.

Now the next one I looked at was Hollie Michelle. She was definitely a more outgoing person and had considerably better combat prowess than Nicky but showed a rather lack for much else. Her abilities as a tactician were limited and other support besides long range shots with a crossbow didn't seem like it would hold over well in a fight. I continued to look on in the profiles as I finally sat down on one of the couches in the dorm's community area. The fireplace was crackling and the light from it being more than enough to read them more closely. I saw immediately that both of their teams had been sent out to Atlas but only these two had survived and had reported back to Beacon. It was indeed odd that they had mysteriously disappeared and even more so that their team names had been classified. It wasn't like Ozpin to cover up something like this. Or was it, hell anymore it seemed that the people that you need to watch were you're allies rather than you're enemies. I don't know what was going through the world at this time but I could see that I had a hell of a time ahead of me between testing and evaluating them. I would like to have them both considering that they have worked well together before, but moreover the hard part would be convincing Ozpin to allow my team to have five members rather than the usual four. I looked deeper and found that Nicky had a boyfriend and apparently he was attending this school with her and was one of the members missing. Maybe it was time to play a mind game with her. Now I looked back onto Hollie's profile and saw that she was also a first year at the age of twenty three. I couldn't help be perplexed about this; there were two girls here well after the normal acceptance age so what did they do to earn a placement and more so Ozpin's attention? I think the mind game I could play with her would be less self destructing than Nicky's but could be just as fun as soon as I found the right buttons to press. I couldn't wait to program the holomatrix with their new scenarios. I was almost skipping to my dorm to begin the time of their lives.


	5. A Mirror Has Shattered

The Hunters of Beacon: The Seeds of Doubt

Chapter 5

 **Meanwhile in the Library…**

Weiss and Ruby were sitting quietly in the library at one of the tables towards the back so there was some peace and quiet, with Weiss trying to get Ruby to focus on her studies so she'll be ready for the new semester. So far she was staying on task but there was an ever so slight lethargy to Ruby's actions there. Almost as if some small part of her had died and her world was falling like a row of dominoes. Weiss was thinking in the darker recesses of her mind that this was only the beginning of Ruby's recent and sudden depression. It started almost like this with herself too. Family being killed and tortured by the White Fang. There were horrors that she could never tell anyone, not even any of the psychiatrists that they had visit her were told what she had endured as a child. It didn't help that she had failed so many times and was reprimanded continuously, yet when she succeeded no one seemed to be there to congratulate her except her instructors. She would probably return to her happy self before the semester started. Weiss couldn't help but feel bad for her with this trying time. She honestly wondered how MRCK was taking it especially Matt of all people. She knew he's seen his fair share of death and destruction. He's a survivor and a dammed good one at that. There was no reason that this would affect him too badly. After he overcomes his rage he will that what happened was for a reason and hopefully accept whoever is chosen to replace Chariti.

It was at this moment that Ruby decided to look up at Weiss and see that her girlfriend was staring at her. The sight made her feel safe if just a little uneasy. She shook her head as she began to look back down at her textbook. She was trying to focus but now that she knew Weiss was staring she just couldn't. It was almost as of she felt the need to stare back at her and elicit some kind of response, but what would she say if Weiss did ask? It was obvious that Weiss had something on her mind but if she hadn't asked by now then perhaps it wasn't all that important. She couldn't tell, she was too busy trying to repress the memories of her mothers death that resurfaced yesterday. It wasn't too hard considering that Ruby was rather young when she died but she still had such nightmares. Ruby in a sense blames herself for her mothers death. It was in essence survivors guilt. Why she hasn't seen a psychiatrist is beyond most people. They continued to sit in their silence as time continued to pass.

 **Holomatrix 3; the next day, 1** **st** **person…**

It was a rather stormy morning on the day of their tests. I had been working in the holomatrix all night and had finally finished both of their programs. I had them programmed them to be adaptive to their decisions, their emotional states, and all known experiences based on reports filed. I was in there now waiting for their arrival running my own program. I was running simulations in there involving the likeliness of how Beacon could survive another assault. It didn't seem right the White Fang vanishing into thin air that day. There are no such things as a teleporter and they had little air support after they had landed. There was literally no way that they could have escaped not with as many aircraft were shot down. There was another theory that I had but it was definitely a long shot but they could have been holograms but there was no way that I know of that they could have been projected inside of the building.

"Ryan, show me all damaged areas of the school during the White Fang incursion."

Then my theory began to have a little more merit. All of the areas that were attacked were either outside or like where I was there was a hole blown in the ceiling. Still it was a hell of a long shot, as there weren't that many people with that kind of access to that technology. And I doubt a terrorist organization could acquire such tech. Not without some kind of trace. But I know that there was no way for me to trace it without gathering some more of my own unwanted attention for Goodwitch has keeping an annoyingly close watch on me since my return here. It wasn't a large concern for me though, I was sure that the headmaster would keep her off me for at least a little while. Anyway checking this was something I felt I needed to do later. But now it was nearly time for Nicky and Hollie to arrive.

"Ryan, save and end program."

As soon as I exited into the control room and sat down at the command console the door chimed. I looked at the camera feed and saw it was the two I was expecting and I let them in. They sat in the two other chairs that were conveniently placed right behind me. I looked out of the control room into the holomatrix a smile forming, but it wasn't an ordinary smile. This was one sick and demented smile. I was going to provide them with the time of their lives…

"You two are right on time." I said, turning again to face them. "Good, now listen up. This morning you two will have the most difficult test of your careers. You both will be put into your own simulation. These simulations are capable of anticipating your every move. And I do mean every move, whether it physical, emotional, or mental. These simulations are programmed to be adaptive; which means of you could be easily be moved from one environment to another in the snap of a finger. The strength of enemies could suddenly change, your allies could become enemies, and vice versa. In this simulation you will come across some of your greatest fears and you must face them or otherwise you will fail, and failure isn't in the budget. Now I'm sure that you're full of questions but if I told you everything it wouldn't be much of a test." I explained quickly.

"So is there anything we can expect?" Nicky asked bluntly.

"Expect nothing. If you do you both will be in for one helluva surprise."

"Expect nothing, how exactly do you expect us to expect nothing?!" Hollie asked showing her irritation.

"I expect you won't, your lack of emotional control is already causing you to slowly wind up and get defensive. The world needs cool heads not touchy, feely people who can get sad over a dead rodent! IF you aren't capable of that Miss Michelle then you don't deserve to be here with us, simple as that."

"How dare you suggest I don't belong here! I have as much a right to be here as she does!" Hollie shouts angrily.

"Actually you don't." said a new voice.

We all looked up to see a the doors admitting a new person into the rather spacious control room, this man standing at 5' 11" walking into the room. He was pale, skinny, and his clothes were really nothing special just a dark blue denim vest unbuttoned over a white unzipped hoodie, black tank top, black skinny jeans and black converse. At first glance he would just look like a normal person. He was also carrying a gun-blade in which the blade fades from a dark blue to white at the center near the hilt. I could immediately tell his stoic attitude and it was obvious that he wasn't easy to impress.

"And what is your name sir?" I asked curiously.

"Jaeger Frieheit, your name is Matthew Lowrey. I am from the Atlas Military Academy and I was assigned to your team as an observer." He gestured to another empty chair at the control panel, "May I take a seat?"

"Yes you may." Hollie said now looking at him like he was a piece of meat and not a person.

"Ryan begin holo-program Omega 626."

"Confirmed. _Miss Hollie Michelle, enter when ready."_

With that command she walked out into her test.

We were all watching in the control room as she was walking down a cobblestone corridor. In the simulation it was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. She continued down and was stealthily turning a corner and still nothing. I could tell that she was starting to get a little cocky, probably thinking that there was nothing in this that could harm her. That's when a boarbatusk came charging in from behind her. It hit her legs and sent her tumbling to the ground. It spun around and came charging again, whilst leaning up from her position she fired her weapon and if by some stroke of luck she hit it straight in the eye killing it instantly. We watched still as she stood up and started to continue in the same direction being more cautious. She had soon approached a door, and with a quick twist of the handle it swung open creaking loudly in the otherwise eerily quiet place. She tried to see in the darkened room but couldn't see anything beyond a few feet away from the door. She entered and began feeling the walls for a light switch, stumbling over something as she continued on. After a few more feet Hollie found what she was looking for, but after she turned on the light she saw something that she didn't expect. She look out from her position and saw that the room was full of freshly killed people and what she had nearly tripped over was Nicky. She kept spinning about taking all of the horror that she was seeing. Her mind couldn't comprehend what she was seeing and with the shock she began to empty the contents of her stomach all over the floor and dropping her weapon. What she was seeing was all of her friends and family dead in front of her and with the program being adaptive to what she was expressing and her vital signs it decided to add to her madness. It added some various black spray paint writing to the wall in front of her. It said things like ' _ **THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! WE TRUSTED YOU! HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ALL OF US TO DIE?! YOU'RE WORTHLESS!'**_ And as she looked on she saw that it just got worse and worse what they were saying about her, but the last one she saw was the one that put the icing on this particular cake. It said ' _ **I HOPE YOU SUFFER A FATE WORSE THAN US! WE HAD EACH OTHER BUT YOU WILL DIE ALONE, HOLLIE!**_ ' That was caused her to run into the next room which was brightly lit. The door locked behind her causing her to start pounding the door with a great ferocity. Her efforts were in vain and when she tried to reach for her weapon she saw it out of the small porthole sized window that was provided. It was then when she took the time to look around and she where she really was. She was in a padded room similar to the ones found in the mental hospitals, then she took the time to listen and it was so quiet but she heard a beating noise and as she turned all around to find it in her panic and found nothing even though the sound still existed. It sounded like a heart beat. She sat down in the middle of the small room and it seemed that she'd given up. Well it seemed that it was time for a new scenario to enter the fray. The computer unlocked the door that she had just walked in and as it began to slowly swing open she saw that the bodies were now gone but the writings remained. She stepped out and picked up her crossbow ready for seemingly anything. There was another door next to the one she just exited out of, however this one was a lot different. It was a solid wood door like one would normally see as the front door to someones house. She inched towards it and as she got closer nothing happened. She was immediately suspicious of it. She reached her hand out to the knob and turned it, opening the door to reveal that it went outside to a dimly lit backyard. There were a two pecan trees in this yard, one close to a few sheds and there was one that was right behind a wood deck that seemed to have been built by hand. There was a figure sitting on the bench that lined nearly the entire inside perimeter. She walked closer, ready to fire if need be. There was a bright, yet not quite blinding light when she got a few feet from the steps that led onto the deck and the closer she got the more perplexing the situation became. It looked like simply a stranger at first glance; but as she got closer she could make out the persons features. From what she could tell it was a man about 5' 10", he had brown hair and was wearing a faded blue denim jacket that looked a bit worn especially around the cuffs. The figure turned around and saw that it was me or rather a holographic representation of me in there. The look on her face was rather shocked, after all from her perspective I was still in the control room. Being unsure she put her hand out as to touch the hologram only for it to simply crumble to dust. She performed a back flip to get away immediately expecting a trap or ambush, yet nothing came. I chose then to end this test as I found out quickly that I would have no use for her on my team. She came back in to the control room dammed angry at me.

"How the hell could you put someone through that in good conscience!?" She practically shouted at me.

I maintaining my cool replied, "Easily, you already know how to fight but you have this kind of barrier trying to control and repress your negative emotions. I wanted to see how you would fair and I must say while I got you to crack you were able to regain control rather quickly. On the other hand I don't have a use for you on this team because you did crack in there."

"I wasn't exactly expecting to see those things in there!"

"What did I tell you earlier?" I asked pinching my nose.

Nicky then answered for her, "To expect nothing."

"I see someone listened to me." I paused again to look at Hollie, "Look it's not that you don't know what you're doing, it's that you can't control yourself during these situations at least not completely. I need cool heads and unfortunately you just don't make my cut."

She was completely floored at what I had told her, she was used to getting everything she wanted and now I had just denied her a prize. She stormed out of the room without another word which suited me fine.

Now normally I would begin the second phase but considering that Hollie had taken her leave that left Nicky as the default selection essentially. Now I had great expectations for her and now I needed to simply observe her to see how well of a field medic she was. That was something that I couldn't just test on the fly, so I would have to look in her service records. I guess it was back to life as normal.

"Well then Nicky, welcome to the team."

"Aren't I supposed to tested as well?" Of course she tried to be fair.

"Not anymore, she essentially just quit my examinations. You by default pass and are now a member of Team MRCK, and no I'm not changing the name."

"Ok, not like I was asking you to..."

"Anyway you can begin moving your stuff into our dorm and the access codes have been updated already so you can access the dorm." I stated bluntly.

"How'd you do that already?" She asked trying to figure out of she missed something, "You haven't even touched your scroll in the last thirty minutes."

"The power of technology, Miss Long."

"Call me Nicky." She said kindly whilst extending her hand, "Miss Long is a little too professional."

"Ok." I replied taking her hand and giving a quick handshake. "Now get your things and get settled, we have a lot of work to do."

And there was plenty to get done as most would wonder as what had happened to her original teammates and why she was the only one to return, especially considering her combat abilities. It was very improbable that she escaped on her own out that wilderness. I planned on having her watched closely. Perhaps Mr. Frieheit would be willing to assist me. However I wouldn't put a lot of stock in it for the fact that he had already gone probably when Hollie left.

 **Later in the day…**

I had finally finished this day and was taking a break from school and was sitting under a tree in the courtyard, reading one of my favorite books when I saw Kasey walking towards me her sketch pad and had a few pencils in hand. I smiled at her and she sat down next to me opening her sketch pad to a page where she already had done some work. I couldn't help but look and admire her work there. Even with her rough sketches they still manage to look amazing. They definitely made anything I'd drawn in my lifetime look like garbage. She didn't mind though for I had a creative mind but it was more oriented towards writing. We have a thing that we do, where she will sketch a few people and settings and while she gave me a basic premise of what she wanted I would give my ideas and opinions about how things could seem more real or even give some myths about what she wanted told. But it goes the other way too, I have created these detailed settings and how people are to be portrayed. I've built whole cities in my head and one of the ones I like using is a decent sized town called San Angelo. In this fictitious realm this town is really nothing special to the naked eye but what happens underneath is a whole story in it self. There are a few other places that I've created but that town is my favorite. I still haven't figured out why. Kasey says that it's because in that world there is no war with the Grimm that people would be able to live normal lives. She's not wrong but at the same time I feel that that really isn't all. She tapped my shoulder saying, "Matt? Hello?"

I blinked at looked at her, "Hey. Sorry, I suddenly found myself deep in thought."

She laughed, "It's ok!" She said happily, "It's not like I'm going to go to Glynda and tell her that you've been thinking."

"Well I would hope so. If I wasn't allowed to think this endeavor here would be a disaster." I said in mock sarcasm.

"On the other hand Matt, what are you thinking about?" I was about to dismiss the notion by going off topic when she said, "You can tell me or can go looking."

"Alright, I've been thinking about the world and the hole it's slowly sinking in."

"What do you mean? Unless your talking about the rise of crime and the terrorism coinciding with the festival this year?"

"Partially, before the announcement of the festivities the crime rate was rather low here in Vale, now crime is almost rampant, the dust robberies have risen causing the price of dust to rise through the roof, there are more petty crimes being committed such as pick pocketing, but the most serious crime increase is murder." I pulled my scroll and opened the Vale News Network and showed her the top story. "See this? I simple bookshop owner was killed, yet none of his books nor the money was stolen! It looks like a senseless murder on the surface but I'll bet that there was some true motive and I doubt it was because he owed someone money." I explained.

"I know that all of this seems odd. You need to remember as well that we are only students here at Beacon, we are not technically allowed to interfere with the police department's investigations. Not unless we Hunters are called upon and as far as I'm aware we haven't been."

"You're right as always." I then looked at her sketch pad and noticed that as we were talking she had already started on a new one. "So what you doing over there?" And then we sat there for the rest of the afternoon while she explained all of the little details of her newest creations.

 **Courtyard, third person…**

Velvet was walking through the courtyard hoping to see Matthew there under his favorite tree but when she got within hearing range she heard that he already had some company. As she got close she could see that it was Kasey and immediately a jealous fire began burning within her. She liked Kasey as a person but how close she was to Matt at this moment was disturbing to her. She felt jealous because Kasey had a kind of relationship with Matthew that she might never be able to have with him. They knew each other so well that it seemed that they didn't even need to be looking at each other to know what the other was thinking. They could probably finish each others' sentences if they wanted to. And as she thought about it more the more jealous she felt and buried deep within that was a sadness. She couldn't explain why she felt his way. She knew that Kasey had no romantic interest in him, yet as Velvet watched them she could tell that they were very comfortable with one another, talking underneath the tree. She continued to watch behind another tree that was relatively close watching their every move and hearing every word. She started to think that she was getting paranoid about this whole situation, Matt would never cheat as it wasn't in his nature. It would be more likely that he would want to punish a cheater. Velvet then chose to walk away as she begin to feel as she was spying on them and she didn't like that feeling.


	6. A Small Vision

The Hunters of Beacon: The Seeds of Doubt

Chapter 6

Well here I am again with another wonderful high speed lecture brought to you by Doctor Oobleck. This man was moving at near impossible speeds for a human and his speech was just as fast. How this man could move this fast was beyond me and I have seem some crazy things in my life. It was almost like that coffee was infused with some kind of dust or something, I really didn't want to know what he had to put in it though for knowing my luck that it was something that probably shouldn't exist because of the laws of reality. Watching this man run about was dizzying enough without him speaking at nearly the same pace. This is the kind of headache I hated having so I thank Oum that I didn't have to do listen to this man everyday. I really don't know what I'd do to myself. I couldn't bear to watch him anymore so I began reading in the textbook seeing if there was anything useful in there that I already didn't know. It was just another drag. You see I'm not always the most patient of people and that tends to get me into trouble and I already knew that there was no way that Oobleck would just let me out of here. Then I looked at my scroll and noticed that there was only five minutes till the bell. All I had to do was sit this through for five more minutes that dragged on forever.

I stretched as I walked out of that classroom feeling as if I had learned absolutely nothing. I just couldn't help walking away as fast as I could on my way to dinner. I was walking alone as my team had literally started to sprint towards the smell of dinner in the dining hall. I originally was going to go to my dorm but after I heard my stomach growling I realized just how hungry I was. As I was walking I couldn't help but think about how the Vytal Tournament would turn out even as I thought the students were here and more were still arriving each day and with all of them arriving I wasn't able to see Velvet as often as I would like to. Keeping people who are unfamiliar with Beacon's layout and being good hosts to all of the newcomers was more work that I originally anticipated. It really didn't bother me except for the fact that I couldn't believe that people could really be this stupid. They all got a tour of the school and are given maps on their scrolls, yet half of them couldn't even the find the restrooms. Those people constantly left me in doubt about how humans and faunus are going to fare in the future.

I arrived there relatively quickly and as soon as I walked in I saw Velvet through one of the windows sitting up against one of the pillars out side. She had a book in her lap and was reading very intently, ignoring the people as they walked by. I made my way through the crowd occasionally bumping into other students. To be honest this place was a little small with how large the current volume of students were here right now. It couldn't be helped as the tournament was coming up soon and some of them were going to participate. It was just an inconvenience that everyone was going to have to deal with. She was so engrossed in her book that she didn't notice me approach and sit down next to her. Watching her face as she read I could tell that at least it was a good and definitely wasn't bored by it. I kinda wanted some of her attention though as I sat next to her. I hadn't seen her since the semester ended yet this book was getting more attention than me. Then I began to think that maybe there was a reason that she was so glued to that book. I took a peek and to my eyes did I see her reading pure unadulterated smut! I nearly couldn't believe what I saw and neither could she as my peeking had brought her attention back to reality. She was staring at me nervously and I was pretty sure that she was feeling shameful judging by how her ears were drooping and I couldn't help nut start laughing. Her look turned from shameful to surprised as she wasn't expecting me to do that.

"What's so funny?" she asked with embarrassment.

"That you were reading that. Were you trying to get some new ideas?"

"NO!" she paused then admitted, "Well maybe I've got a few but I've always read romance novels sometimes there are some rather steamy scenes in there."

"Well now I didn't say I was complaining."

She giggled a bit as I took her hand and helped her up her face still a bit red from the fact that she was caught reading smut. We began walking away towards the airship docks to watch the sunset.

During the evening Kasey had found her way to where Matthew had stood atop the tower last semester and stared in the direction of the city attempting to piece together what she saw in his mind. Shattered images was all that she managed to get from him anymore. It scared her to see that she could no longer access certain parts of his mind. He was adapting and so should she but with so much time being devoted to training and her lessons she just didn't have the time. She could see him with Velvet at the airship platforms they looked like they were enjoying each others company and the view of Vale at night. It was a wonder to behold. Looking at a city that before you'd only seen while inside of it. She wondered what was happening to the world, what information that Matthew knew, and lastly what he was planning. Boy was he always planning something. He really could never stop thinking about the past, present, or future. But as she began to piece together those shattered images she noticed something that is was almost like an overlay first she saw Vale for how it used to be, then she saw how it is now, and lastly she saw something that absolutely terrified her. The city in ruins with the various parts of the city burning. She could hear the screaming of people as they burned and at the center of it all was a silhouette of a woman. A woman she had never seen before, yet obviously Matthew had. Her vengeful yellow eyes pierced her soul and with the dead and fire surrounding her she truly created a sight that shook Kasey to the very core. As she continued to investigate she noticed that Matthew was there too, his gunblade sheathed at his hip looking on as an army followed him marching right past him. Then she snapped out of her daze and looked down at the platforms again worrying if what she saw was actually true and if it was, what roles were being played by who? She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Was that what he sees when he looks at everything? Or is this something else entirely? She couldn't be sure of anything right now with those images so fresh in her mind. And with her mind being elsewhere she didn't hear the approach of another person.

"First Mr. Lowrey and now you Miss Torrte at this rate the whole school will be up here."

She turned around to see Ozpin standing at the door smiling. "Sorry sir. I had some things on my mind."

"I could tell." He replied kindly walking closer. "Now what troubles you, Kasey?"

"Well unfortunately Matthew." She was concerned and it was obvious that Ozpin noticed.

"Tell me how your best friend off all people troubles you."

"It's how he's been behaving since we started here. I think now that he has power he's using it and more than he should. I can see it in his eyes they used to look so youthful and now they've seemed to start aging." She started to pace as continued to explain, "I also used to be able to make sense of his thoughts but now everything seems fragmented and what I do get are shattered images that fade in and out. I think he's aware of events to come."

"Do you think that's why the team isn't participating in the Vytal Tornament? And instead he asked me to put all of you on security detail for the event." He paused moving in front of her pacing, "Now why would he do that?"

"I'm not sure. Perhaps I just need to be there for him."

"Now you have your answer and I'll take my leave.

And Ozpin had left her up on the roof thinking on how she'd be able to help Matthew through these times and what was really to come.


	7. To see or not to see?

The Hunters of Beacon: The Seeds of Doubt

Chapter 7

I was sitting there with Velvet at the docks watching the stars and the occasional airship pass overhead. It was nice to see her relax considering her team was training non-stop for the tournament, she had been so busy even through the break that I hadn't even seen her once. It was very peaceful out on the docks to the point that the spot we were in had no people so we began cuddling together on the grass on the cool night. Not much could have ruined this moment that we were having and if some how it was I had the perfect backup spot already picked. The stars seemed like they were burning bright tonight and making the constellations easy to single out amongst the other lonely stars. It was peaceful to say the least, perhaps too peaceful. She felt me shudder ever so slightly and she sat up.

"What happened?" She asked concerned.

"I can see the end of the peace, the war that will ensue. It slowly kills me each day watching this play over again and again in my head. It's slowly ripping away at my soul to the point that there are days I look into the mirror and I cannot even see myself anymore. I see what I'm becoming." I explain still laying there.

She looks at me quizzically, "And what are you destined to become if not a huntsman?"

"I'm not sure to be honest."

"Well then don't dwell on it, just live how you want to." She said a sparkle in her eyes.

"You're right, I'm just over thinking this again."

"That's your job, mine is to make sure you don't stray from your path."

She was right I probably shouldn't worry about straying from my choice to protect the people but whatever was going on Ozpin seemed to know in detail what was going on and I wanted to know what he knew about this. Getting him to actually talk however was going to be a task unto itself, hell seeing if he has time has been even harder recently. We still lay there watching the stars in the skies she moved her hand to tenderly hold mine as we continued.

Back on the roof of the tower Kasey was still staring towards the city worrying on who she was going to ask Matthew to open up again. It really didn't open up much to others but with her it should be easy for him. But within her thoughts she couldn't help but feel helpless until Matt did open up. She heard the door open again and Mex came out onto the doorway.

"You want some company or is this a bad time?" He asked.

"No it's fine, I'm just up here watching Matt and Velvet while I was thinking."

"Sounds like fun, so what have you seen the two lovebirds do? And I want details!" He said giddily.

"Huh? What do you mean details they're just down at the platforms enjoying each others company." She paused for a second as she realized what Josh implied, "I swear the only thing you're better at than being a pervert is killing Grimm."

"It's not like you're any better, I hear what you do when you think we're all asleep." She immediately became flustered after he said that and was about to retort when he spoke again, "It's perfectly fine you know, just try to keep it down alright?"

She couldn't help but feel embarrassed however that wasn't important considering apparently everyone in this school is a pervert, like literally all of the students were perverts. That was a topic for a different time though as there were much more pressing matters to attend to.

"Let's just focus on Matt, ok?" She paused to regather her thoughts, "Something is wrong with him and I don't like where this in particular is going."

"So what do you thing is wrong with him. He's still physically fit as far as I can tell and as for how he can distance himself from everyone it seems like it's gotten a little bit worse but that could just be a defense mechanism because of all of the new people here right now." He said about to continue on when he looked and saw her face.

"No, it's much more than that." She looked on at the platforms seeing that they had gone, "He keeps so much hidden from everyone and to those who haven't known him for very long would know that how he's acting isn't normal. He knows something is about to go down and it will affect not just us but the whole world. The shadows of war are looming and soon they will be on our front door with little to no warning. He wants to be ready but now with the recent destruction of the old Imperial Capitol and the impenetrable fortress it was he needs to find somewhere else to acquire his military weaponry."

"Hey, Kasey? I hate to break it to you but that city hasn't been destroyed. It's still there, hell Matt and I were going to be going there here tonight to see the new construction."

"What do you mean new construction? The city has been abandoned for nearly 15 years! The only people that go there are scavengers trying to get some of that old Imperial tech inside the Imperial Palace in the center of the city!"

"Oh how blind you have been. It's alright most people didn't know that tidbit either, nevertheless though there is some stuff that's about to go down and we'll all be there to see the final end. Ozpin gave him control of something and he set it aside for when the world would need it. Now he wouldn't tell me what but I assume that it either was a large knowledge base or a weapon of some kind."

"Now why would Professor Ozpin and Matthew be working behind our backs like this? And why are we not be participating in the tournament? This all just seems odd to me!" It was obvious her frustration was growing with the whole situation.

"Maybe it's nothing? He could have just had a nightmare or something and didn't feel like telling anyone. It doesn't have to be a bad thing. Now before you ask I know that you worry about him a lot. Possibly more than a friend should and you probably should be considering his mental state after Chariti's death. I know it effected him somehow because he's been training ten fold what he used to. When he isn't in class, with Velvet, or sleeping, he's in training. He needs help but we can't force it out of him, you have to wait for the facade he put up to break before you are able to get your answers."

Kasey was taking it all in what Josh had said and she already knew he was right but she wanted her answers now she really didn't want to wait, then again maybe she didn't have too. She was more than capable of getting inside his head she just needed to do it when his guard was down in which case she'd only be able to do it when he slept. It was plausible but there was no guarantee that it would work like that, on the other hand if she waited then it would be a sure shot that she would get her information. Her patients or lack thereof was winning so she decided in that moment that option a was her best option and if it backfired there was always a backup plan. She couldn't help but get giddy with excitement as she was about to truly get inside his mind. It was kinda a thing she had, she really liked breaking the rules in secret. One could say that she liked the danger of getting caught if she was alone but put her around her peers she would be as proper as she could be. That is exactly how she was, she wanted as few people as possible to know that she was some kind of closet rebel. She knew that Matthew already knew that but she had her ways to convince him that she wasn't up to anything.

"Kasey are you alright? You kinda spaced out there." Josh asked.

"Yes I'm fine."

"I hope so, I'd hate to see anything bad happen to anyone on this team." He said sounding a bit upset.

"Speaking of the team how do you think we'll get along with Nicky instead of Chariti?"

"We'll probably do fine, the one who seems to be taking this the hardest is Matthew. I think he feels guilty for not being there, like he should have said yes to our request to go with us outside the walls."

"You're exactly right, he won't forgive himself for a long time for that. To be honest though he really shouldn't feel this way because there would have been nothing that he could have done except have been another target for that Goliath."

"I know that but who would we convince him of that?"

"We don't. He'll figure it out for himself."

I was now sitting at my desk in the dorm making a schedule for our first team training session of the year thinking about our new duties as security for the Vytal Tournament and as I was sitting there I couldn't help to think back to when I was still studying at Signal. I was an antisocial person that everyone tried to talk, thinking that I was the loneliest person in the world which was far from the truth. I had Kasey to talk to and she was in the same boat I was in dealing with people but I was able to handle them a bit better than she did. We also had Andromeda for awhile, she was kinda social but still liked keeping to herself. Tall, blonde, with these amazing emerald eyes with just as a beautiful body to match. She had all kinds of guys trying to get with her but she was always telling them she was waiting for the right man for her. Something to be admired by any one really, them unfortunately she was killed. I didn't think about her death as it brought to many negative feelings and really just didn't want to feel them right now. Back to reality I was looking at how we were going to incorporate Nicky into the team considering her entry was less than ideal and we really have no idea how she will cope working with our tactics. I could only hope that she could adapt easily to all of this. Mex of course had his concerns considering that she was his new partner but like all of us we were going to have to adapt, so that is our next step as a team and that's exactly what we are going to do. There was however another thing that has been on my mind for the last few days and that was the fact of what I've been seeing lately in my visions. I can't believe that the city and Beacon are going to lie in ruins that was not possible with the amount of huntsman and huntresses that are currently in Vale simply to watch the tournament plus lets not forget the Atlesian Military led by General Ironwood. It had to be impossible to break through these defenses with any kind of force. There was no one I could think of that could do it, not on this planet that I was aware of at the very least. I looked on the list of booking for the training hall and saw that there was an evening time slot open for about three hours that I couldn't pass up and I immediately clicked on it on my scroll. Feeling satisfied that we were going to see how we stand as a team and hopefully seeing where we will need to improve I made my way to the door to go and see where Kasey and Mex had gone to and left Nicky in the room napping after her classes. I could only have guessed where they had gone when they both walked into the door Kasey looking at me with very concern written across her face about me if I had to guess, even though I couldn't fathom why she would be concerned right now unless she somehow already knew and was waiting to question me about it. In which case I would have to be truthful so she would leave it alone and let whatever happens in my head stay there and not let it worry people all the time. I couldn't help what my head thought up in it's subconscious all the time anymore. Hell I could never control it int the first place, it always kinda just happens. I turned to my keys set on my shelf and decided that maybe that it was time to check on that old forward base for the hunters near my house (or formerly my grandmother's house). It could wait until tomorrow though as it was already starting to get late and I was feeling the need for some shut eye.


	8. A New Beginning

_**Remember that comments are always welcome and appreciated and if you have questions that you don't want put in the reviews section don't be afraid to PM me.**_

The Hunters of Beacon: The Seeds of Doubt

Chapter 8

I was standing at a table in the cellar at my grandma's house now this was no average table as it has a touch screen monitor embedded in it and on this monitor were maps of Beacon and Vale. This was also no average cellar as it was lined with bulletproof glass cases along one wall and on the opposite wall there was one large screen that currently displayed various vehicles that were in inventory at the old hunter's base across the street. On the walls that didn't have anything on them you could see that the brick and mortar that this cellar was constructed from. It was nearly a month after the semester had started and there was no sign of it getting any easier I thought as I looked on, staring at the table. The room I was in was where my grandmother had coordinated and planned defenses of the region. I came down here from time to time just to make sure everything was still in working order. I did this whilst my team was up top in the house doing something to get themselves in some kind of trouble I'm sure. I walked out of the room turning off the dim lighting that I had on in there. I found it to be comforting that in this house that my grandmother had decided to equip it as a mini fortress and of course with nearly twenty acres of land she had a lot to do with it. Four foot tall electric fences surrounded the property; beyond that until a nearly 25 foot radius around the house was a minefield waiting to be activated and at the house were several automated machine emplacements to handle any stragglers that managed to get past all of that. Plus there was a special device that if needed could stop everyone and everything in their tracks but that particular defense system is classified, meaning that I'm the only one who knows what it actually is. I looked on at this place and wondered what it was like before my grandma did all of this to her home until I heard a crash from inside the house.

Inside the house I saw the aftermath of what crashed. From what I saw the cabinet to the pans was open and there were several of them just strewn about across my kitchen floor. All of my team but Josh were off doing something outside.

"Mex… I don't wanna know." I sighed.

"Fine by me."

It was at that moment that the other two had decided to walk in the back door and Kasey and Nicky couldn't help but look at the scene in front of them and the fact that the cat was strutting by wasn't helping the situation. It didn't matter though because I had a more important subject to talk to them about. It was about how we were going to patrol for the festival. I ushered them into the living room and made everyone take a seat. These plans were made by Ironwood and Ozpin for the patrol routes and what we patrol on a daily basis. On the wall was projected a map of the fairgrounds and the stadium. The stadium is to be patrolled on a rotating basis between us and the Atlesian soldiers whilst the fairgrounds were to be patrolled between the Atlesian solders and Team WFLO. If Ironwood was correct than the possibility of anything going wrong was close to zero, of course not even he could predict everything. It was a relatively short presentation before we had to go back to Beacon but I wanted to have this talk here because since there were so many new people there with the transfers and all and with several of them looking shifty I felt as if I was being watched.

After an uneventful trip back to Beacon I was merely sitting on my bed scrolling through various social media sites as the night went on. I couldn't see why people were so worried about such unimportant things in the world; like "OH this animal was killed by this group!" and other similar things online anymore nowadays. Really seeing it made me laugh at first and it was almost maniacal at first and then it turned to frustration at these people for being deluded enough to believe damn near everything on the web. I had to blow off some steam after the stupidity I had just seen. I opened my door and walked out into the surprising loud corridor I walked in the direction of the ruckus and heard it was coming from RWBY's room. And what I could hear was an argument between Ruby and Weiss again. It seemed to be happening a lot more often these last few weeks and of course I already knew why. Ruby was young and juvenile whilst Weiss was a bit more matured and wanted Ruby to see that she needed to grow up. Unfortunately I knew their relationship was never going to work out, I wasn't going to say anything however as they will probably figure it out sooner rather than later. Ruby was just not very keen on seeing what they needed. She was young and let's face it your typical raging hormones teenager. I just passed their room by as I really couldn't make out anything that either was screaming at the other about. Walking to the training room I was thinking that maybe back when last semester started, maybe I should have taken up Weiss's offer and maybe had started dating her instead. I realized that while I thought I did love Velvet she was hardly ever here and in my company so in turn I still always kinda felt lonely. If she wasn't out on a mission she was almost always doing something else. Very rarely would we even be in the same room together for more than five minutes anymore. I had the thought that maybe she was seeing someone else and I would never admit to anyone that the thought of that hurt but at the same time if I were to find that was the truth it wouldn't affect me as most people would think. It would hurt don't get me wring but not as bad as most would be because of how I think we've drifted apart and to be honest it's as much her fault as it is mine. I try to spend time with her don't get me wrong; but in recent weeks I really haven't been trying as hard as I normally would be. That got me thinking about Weiss again as she had confided in me that she wasn't too keen on dating Ruby for much longer because of her attitude towards her nowadays. Ruby was really never letting Weiss have any time to herself. It was always her messaging; "Where are you at?", "What are you doing?", and "When are you going to get back?". It was extremely aggravating for Weiss when she couldn't even have a minute. It still was fresh in my mind how she described her feelings towards her. In a sense I could relate with my current predicament.

I had walked into the training room but stood there as I was simply expecting the training droids to activate. I had no weapon save for my gunblade but it was as good as anything when there wasn't anything to hit. I moved to the panel and moved it to level 23, a decent challenge but not to over exerting.

The waves had started as I now moved with my natural fluidity. The first of them began moving in trying to flank me on both sides as another two rushed me from the front. I ran to meet the first two and that's when the ones on my flanks began their strike. I had anticipated this and when I was about to meet the ones charging me head on I made a small jump over them and turned midair and shot a high explosive round at them blowing apart. As I landed another wave had already made their way onto the field and had already made contact with me. I began slashing furiously at them trying to get them to back off. They weren't having any of it and kept pressing knowing I was already wearing down due to my mind being elsewhere still. I couldn't regain my focus as I continued trying to hold them off. My own aura was also being affected by my lack of concentration it was depleting far faster than normal with every hit I was taking. I simply couldn't keep up right now. I tried to rush past a few and get back to the panel to turn them off but I quickly realized that I was surrounded. I tried to slice my way out of the middle and found again that there now were simply too many. I had to finish so it seemed so I did what I did best. I turned in the direction I needed to go and began parrying begin careful not to shoot considering the close quarters I was in right now high explosive would not do me any good. The damage I was taking had already begun to take its toll on my body. I was already failing it seemed that I had to wait until my aura went into the red. As I sheathed my sword and took a knee I thought of one last thing that might work. I put my hand on the hilt and waited for them to get closer and as soon as they were within their striking range I moved with such speed you would have needed a slow motion camera to see what had happened. I removed my sword from the sheath and sliced

Horizontally using my aura as an extension of the sword and took out an about a quarter of them. I couldn't do it again for my aura was too low and I was looking at some bleak odds when something happened. They all stopped and stood down from their combat mode.

"You know that maybe, just maybe you'd think before just putting this thing on a level." I heard a chastising voice say from behind me.

I turned to face Weiss standing at the panel with a smug expression on her face, "I had it under control…"

"No you didn't! You would have gotten eviscerated had I not shown up!"

"I'm sure I would have figured out something." I lied.

"You can't fool me; I've been a part of many meetings that involve lying swine."

"I'm sure you have; but here's my question. What exactly are you doing here?" I asked.

Weiss looked a little took aback when I had asked. "I thought you could use some company?"

"Now who's lying?" I asked knowing her obvious attempt at deception.

"Fine! I wanted to pick up where we left off a couple nights ago; before Ruby started bothering me to get back."

I had us get out of the training hall to where we could talk more privately and the one place I could think of was actually out at the fountain in the courtyard. It was a calm night, wind rustling the leaves, crickets chirping and the fireflies were out creating a wonderful display. We sat next to the water, Weiss tracing her finger along the surface trying to form the words in her head while I was waiting patiently, also finding some entertainment watching her as she traced mindless shapes and the ripples they were creating. I could tell she was struggling with how she wanted to word this and I had a feeling I knew where it was going to go. But as the good friend I waited for her to speak. As we waited the world seemed to stop from time to time as if she was going to speak and nothing would come out. She didn't seem like she wanted to complain again but soon I was starting to get concerned and I had to say something.

"Weiss, if you can't walk about it that's fine. I understand as there are many things that I don't talk about either." I said sympathetically.

"It's just that Ruby gets me so frustrated lately. I didn't sign up for this when I started dating her. I didn't want a clingy fifteen year old and to be honest I never really put much effort into her and I. She just doesn't get it that I don't want that kind of relationship with her anymore. I wanted to be her friend but when she confessed I figured I would at least try you know." She paused to catch her breath and continued, "She always thinks I'm going to cheat on her and you know what is almost appalling to me is that I'm thinking about it, just to show her how we've drifted apart as friends and in this relationship."

"Well Weiss that is a pretty difficult decision to make." I looked up and we locked eyes as I spoke again, "But now is cheating the right thing to do? Or would it make things worse?" She didn't speak as looked down into the water. "It would break her heart more to cheat on her than to simply break up with her and if you value your friendship with her you will make the right choice.

"You're right, I shouldn't cheat on her but I can't help the thought though. I really want someone else right now but unfortunately I don't know if they'd even say yes."

"Well then if you are so unsure than maybe you should just break it off."

"What if Yang tries to pummel me? I can't hold her off for long of she gets enraged!" She said exasperated.

"I doubt it, if you do it the right way and you are respectful. But if you cheat you can easily place a bet that she will hunt you down for hurting her sister so."

"I know. I feel a lot better now that I've gotten that off of my chest, you should try it sometime instead of holding it all in." She suggested.

"I don't know about this…"

"Come on! I want to know how you plan on fixing your relationship."

It was my turn now to feel uncomfortable as she was prying, "I don't think I can…"

"What do you mean?"

"I think that there was no us between Velvet and I. I mean that too. I tried for so long but after that mission and the paradox with the whole time travel thing I think she took us for granted; like she assumed that we'd be together. She cared but then the break happened. No contact in any form and now practically ignoring me here. There are no excuses anymore I'm not going to keep tormenting myself." I stated matter of factly.

"Well since we've both decided that we're single now can I tell you something?" She asked the redness already forming in her cheeks.

"If it's that you're still in love with me then I understand. I reacted badly that night; I thought that the alcohol would make me do something stupid."

"So you knew all along?"

"I've been thinking on that night for nearly a week now after hearing about all your troubles with Ruby, I know now that I was a fool to say no to you." I paused as I needed to prepare myself for something that I hardly ever do, "I want you to forgive me for that night and how I've treated you since then. I was an ass and now I think karma has made me pay the price."

"You had my forgiveness long ago Matthew."

She moved forward then and kissed me straight on my lips and I quickly gave in and kissed her back. It lasted for a few seconds until we both fell into the water startling both of us. I sat up and looked down, Weiss staring at me her hair flowing freely in the water. I helped her up and we both laughed at how looked at that moment. We realized our mistakes and it was simply not having the right person by your side.

By the time the afternoon came the next day we both had officially broken up with our respective girlfriends and had started our own relationship. In secret of course we planned on revealing it to them in due time but for now we wanted anonymity.

 _ **Sorry I took so long with this everyone. I had a serious case of writers block until one of my friends noticed that the reason I wasn't writing. It was that I felt I had to change from my original plan since the first story because so many people were shipping themselves with the main characters my editor that I began to send things to after my first one started college began to chastise me over the fact that I was "going to be like the rest of them". So I shipped Velvet, the at the time one episode wonder. Now in RWBY she turned out to be a fine character but she really didn't fit in with what I felt I wanted to write. Weiss was my first and only option at the time and now since that person is no longer my editor anymore I'm going to write this as exactly as how I wanted to do it. I always felt that Weiss was damaged in a way with how she's the heiress to the SDC and as I continued to watch I turned out to be right in a sense. Volume three was easily a dead give away for me. I now have a new editor that doesn't judge me on how I want to write. We both are on the same page and have the same kind of mentality for writing. And I hope that this kind of delay doesn't happen again.**_


	9. That Happened

The Hunters of Beacon: The Seeds of Doubt

Chapter 9

You know when that feeling when you wake up from an incredible dream and then realize that you are back living in real life. That's how I felt the first day after I started dating Weiss Schnee. And then I realized that I wasn't dreaming at all. I actually was dating her and what had happened at the fountain was no dream. Now I was already being hounded by my team about why I broke up with Velvet and the answer was the same as I told her. That I was feeling lonely and with how she seemed like she was avoiding me. All but Kasey wanted to know more, alas there was no more to tell. At least nothing that they needed to know just yet. This secret relationship had been going on for nearly two months and so far no one was the wiser about us and if they were they weren't saying anything about it. I even had Kasey fooled into thinking that I was single. Everyone has secrets and one of mine happened to be Weiss. I'm sure she will catch on eventually but until then I was not going to tell anyone a single word. That is until Weiss is comfortable enough to announce it to everyone. I was most appreciative of how she was handling this for I know it would have looked bad if we were to let the cat out of the bag as soon as we decided that night. Especially for her for the press would be all over her like a pack wolves hunting a deer. Probably calling her all kinds of atrocious names too. At least that was one comfort for now. Now as for where I am. The library is always a good place just to chill and read a good book. Or for me just a place to take out my scroll and do some studying. At least that was the plan until Weiss walked in with her team. She noticed me immediately and gave me a quick wink before immersing herself back with her teammates. I couldn't help but get lost on my train of thought. There was no woman in my mind that could have beaten her neither in her beauty nor in her personality. Yea she had her quirks but considering she's adapting to living life away from her family there were going to be a lot of bumps.

As I was thinking my scroll buzzed in my hands snapping me back to reality. On the screen it said I had received a message from Weiss.

 _'You're staring at me. Keep this up and they'll definitely think something is up.' She had sent me._

 _'You know I can't help it, you're just too beautiful.'_

 _'Well you're going to have to stop for now.'_

 _'Fine… Just know that I don't approve of this.'_

 _'… Let me get away from my team, and move yourself somewhere out of the way.'_

 _'Alright and while you do that I'll find somewhere quiet.'_

Weiss was watching as Matt walked away from the area biding her time and waiting for the right amount of time to elapse before she was to do her trademark stance and complain how loud it was. Really al she was waiting for was Ruby and Yang to start with their antics which was taking longer than usual today. Of course the one time she wanted to go Ruby and Yang were actually behaving themselves. She was sitting anxiously waiting and wanting to go see him. Watching them was taking away from her time and with the itch she was feeling she took things into her own hands.

"I'm sorry everyone but I just remembered I had a prior engagement that I have to attend to." Weiss stated putting on her usual scowl, trying to hide how elated she was to be seeing Matthew alone.

"That's no fair I thought we were supposed to be studying together today Weiss." Ruby whined.

"That's not it our little Ice Queen has a date and she's just too embarrassed to tell us." Yang teased giving Weiss a little wink.

"I'm just going to see a friend." Weiss lied. "We are not going to anything of those illicit things you like watching on your scroll."

"I never said anything like that there Ice Queen but now you got me a little curious." Yang retorted.

"Yang, leave her alone." Blake said speaking up from behind her book.

"But Blake…" Yang whined.

"No buts. What Weiss does in her own free time is none of our business, just as what you like doing is none of her business." Blake explained from behind her book.

"Thank you, Blake." Weiss replied kindly.

Weiss walked away from them to go to her meeting with Matthew and waiting until she was around the corner did the RBY of RWBY started their own little conversation.

"So how do you think she's seeing?" Ruby asked her sadness showing through.

"Rubes, I know why you're asking and it's not going to make what you're dealing with any easier. I know the first is always hard but it was really for the better for the both of you." Yang explained.

"I know… I was just hoping that maybe I had a chance." Ruby moped.

"I don't know who she's seeing but for the moment she's happy and the team has been working together better than ever Ruby. Maybe we should focus on that."

Ruby looked down at the table depressed. She knew what her sister said to be true yet couldn't bring herself to admit she was right. She really didn't know what to expect from Weiss now though. She thought she knew her but now she was wondering if she really made the right choice going to get advice that night. Maybe she really should have left it alone. Yang was right after all; she and Weiss didn't work out. She thought that if only she could go back and change time but that was still impossible. She felt that it her right to know who had taken her Weiss away from her. To say she was a obsessing just a wee bit would have been a huge understatement on anyone's' part. Unfortunately she was about to get involved again and as being the leader of her team she decided to make the decision to involve them.

"Hey haven't you two noticed how Weiss will just leave randomly at all hours of our free time?" Ruby asked quietly, still hurt.

Yang was the first to reply, "Ruby I thought I just asked you to stop this…"

"She does have a point though." Blake took a pause to clear her throat before continuing. "Weiss has been acting odd these past couple of months. She tries to sneak out when no one is paying attention. She'll work for hours at her makeup on a weekend, dolling herself up and then simply say she's going out. On days like this she'll just up and leave; even though her academics wouldn't tell anyone the wiser. She's going through a lot of trouble to keep a secret. Even on a normal day she takes extra time to make sure everything is perfect. She is either seeing someone or she is trying to get somebody's attention and I'm personally leaning towards the former." She finished.

"Well then Blakey it seems that you have given this quite a bit of thought." Yang stated bluntly.

Blake cocked her eyebrow at the comment and simply smiled, "It wasn't really that hard to notice. Like how I noticed that Matthew was sitting over there and a few minutes ago he got up, walking past us as he left."

Yang's and Ruby's jaws hit the floor in pure astonishment. They were sitting at the table and Yang was even facing where he was sitting and she hadn't even noticed that he was here much less that he had left. They were just as perceptive at least in battle and here was Blake to unintentionally one up them both. Of course Blake had a distinct advantage over both of them and of course Blake tried to be humble about it but it never worked around her teammates for obvious reasons. She also had a pretty good hunch as to why Weiss had really left too and she was only glad that she would probably win her bet with Glynda, nothing more and all the smut she'll be buying over the weekend. Ruby and Yang took notice of Blake's now evil, mischievous expression on her face and felt the atmosphere get colder. It made the both of them feel uneasy as Blake's expression turned to normal and she just resumed the conversation as if nothing had happened.

"So are you two going to say something or just keep staring at me like you both are dumbfounded?" She said tilting her head slightly.

"Ummm…" Was Ruby's response whilst Yang actually replied, "Are you potting a murder?"

"I can tell you that no I'm not plotting a murder but I have a feeling that I need to go confirm something, so if you two don't mind I bid you adieu."

"Whoa there Kitty Cat!" Yang piped up rather excessively loud and flirtatiously in a library, "You think you're going with you on this little quest of yours without me?"

"YANG!" Ruby yelled crossing her arms like a spoiled child. "I want to go too!"

Yang turned to her little sister and plainly said, "No."

"But…"

"No Ruby!" Yang then being the great sister she is made a suggestion, "If you want to occupy some time maybe you should find a nice man or woman and have a good time." And with that those two ran out of the library, leaving Ruby to her own devices.

Weiss found herself within the lesser used parts of Beacon judging from the lack of people and the dust on the windowsills whilst otherwise it looked like most of the other hallways. On closer examination however she noticed that there were many tracks here like someone had moved a great deal of equipment to this section and most recently someone had walked this way. She followed the tracks and came up to a door where rock music from the 1980's could be heard albeit very muffled. She extended her hand out, grasped the doorknob and twisted. She looked around the surprisingly lit room and saw that it was just a small closet with a staircase leading down. She walked in the door closing behind her walking briskly towards and down the stairs. Turning left at the end she walked down a dim hallway the music echoing off the walls and came to another door with a light coming out from beneath it. The music stopped abruptly and the door opened pulling her inside…

TO BE CONTINUED

 **A/N:**

 _ **I know this was a rather short chapter but the next one will more than make up for it.  
**_


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